1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber adapter, and more particularly, to an MPO type optical fiber adapter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fiber optics has revolutionized communication through out the world. With the increased used of fiber optics it has become increasingly important to be able to connect and disconnect fiber optic cables from various sources. Two fiber optic cables can be optically coupled so that they are in communication with each other by using connectors and an adapter, thereby putting each fiber optic cable in communication with the other. The connectors are placed on the end of each cable and then plugged into the adapter. The adapter has two openings each one designed to receive a connector.
However, single-fiber connectors are somewhat bulky for high density application. Therefore, some types of multi-fiber connectors are provided for solving such problems.
Referring to FIG. 1, it illustrates conventional MPO type multi-fiber connectors 110, 110′ and the corresponding optical fiber adapter 160 thereof. The connector 110 has guide pins 112 protruding from the front end thereof and the connector 110′ has corresponding holes 112′ located on the front end thereof. When the connectors 110, 110′ couple with each other through the adapter 160, the guide pins 112 will be inserted into the holes 112′ and the hooks 162 in the adapter 160 will hook on two recesses 114 of the connector 110 and two recesses 114′ of the connector 110′, respectively. At this time, the ferrule 118 of the connector 110 will be brought into contact with the ferrule 118′ of the connector 110′.
Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional adapter 160 typically consists of two halves 164 of an outer housing. Each half 164 of the outer housing consists of generally of a rectangular cylinder having a flange 166 at one end. Inside each half 164 of the outer housing would be placed half 168 of an inner housing. Once the inner housing is inserted into each half 164 of the outer housing, the two halves 164 of the outer housing are connected by ultrasonically welding the two flanges 166 of the halves 164 of the outer housing.
However, the above design presents serious problems. The cables are naturally flexed in use when the adapter remains fixed. The related stress of this situation can cause the two halves 164 of the outer housing to separate from each other after time. In the prior art, this problem can be solved by constructing the halves 164 of the outer housing from metal which gives the adapter enough strength to withstand these stresses. However, this too presented a problem as metal is much more expensive to purchase and mold than the plastic one.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide an MPO type optical fiber adapter to solve the aforesaid problems.